Recently, the ferroelectric Eu${}_{0.5}$Ba${}_{0.5}$TiO${}_3$ was suggested for experimental searches of the electron electric dipole moment. To analyze results of the experiment and interpret them in terms of fundamental constants, the effective electric field $E_{\mathrm{eff}}$  acting on unpaired electrons of the europium cation should be calculated. In the present paper we consider Eu${}^{2+}$ cation in the uniform external electric field $E_{\mathrm{ext}}$ as the first step and important starting point toward the calculation of $E_{\mathrm{eff}}$ in the real solid. We have performed high-level electronic structure correlation calculations using the coupled clusters theory compared to other approaches. The calculated value of the field enhancement coefficient is $K=E_{\mathrm{eff}}/E_{\mathrm{ext}}=-4.6$.

We obtain an analytical equation of state for one-dimensional strongly attractive Fermi gases for all parameter regimes in current experiments. From the equation of state, we derive universal scaling functions that control whole thermodynamical properties in quantum critical regimes and illustrate the physical origin of quantum criticality. It turns out that the critical properties of the system are described by those of free fermions and those of mixtures of fermions with masses $m$ and $2m$. We also show how these critical properties of bulk systems can be revealed from the density profile of trapped Fermi gases at finite temperatures and can be used to determine the $T=0$ phase boundaries without any arbitrariness.

The pair coherent states of a two-mode quantized electromagnetic field introduced by Agarwal [Phys. Rev. Lett. 57, 827 (1986)] have yet to be generated in the laboratory. The states can mathematically be obtained from a product of ordinary coherent states via projection onto a subspace wherein identical photon number states of each mode are paired. We propose a scheme by which this projection can be engineered. The scheme requires relatively weak cross-Kerr nonlinearities, the ability to perform a displacement operation on a beam mode, and photon detection ability able to distinguish between zero and any other number of photons. These requirements can be fulfilled with currently available technology or technology that is on the horizon.

We experimentally and theoretically study two different tripod configurations using metastable helium (${}^4$He*), with the probe field polarization perpendicular and parallel to the quantization axis, defined by an applied weak magnetic field. In the first case, the two dark resonances interact incoherently and merge together into a single electromagnetically induced transparency peak with increasing coupling power. In the second case, we observe destructive interference between the two dark resonances inducing an extra absorption peak at the line center.

We give examples showing that two well-known versions of the $S$-matrix theory, which describes a nonresonant multiphoton ionization of atoms and ions in intense laser fields, lead to qualitatively different results. The latter refer not only to total ionization rates, but also to energy distributions of photoelectrons, for instance, in a polarization plane of the laser field. It should be possible to make experiments testing predictions of both theories in the near future.

The density distribution of the one-dimensional Hubbard model in a harmonic trapping potential is investigated in order to study the effect of the confining trap. Strong superimposed oscillations are always present on top of a uniform density cloud, which show universal scaling behavior as a function of increasing interactions. An analytical formula is proposed on the basis of bosonization, which describes the density oscillations for all interaction strengths. The wavelength of the dominant oscillation changes with interaction, which indicates the crossover to a spin-incoherent regime. Using the Bethe ansatz the shape of the uniform fermion cloud is analyzed in detail, which can be described by a universal scaling form.

When separated measurements on entangled quantum systems are performed, the theory predicts correlations that cannot be explained by any classical mechanism: communication is excluded because the signal should travel faster than light; preestablished agreement is excluded because Bell inequalities are violated. All optical demonstrations of such violations have involved discrete degrees of freedom and are plagued by the detection-efficiency loophole. A promising alternative is to use continuous variables combined with highly efficient homodyne measurements. However, all the schemes proposed so far use states or measurements that are extremely difficult to achieve, or they produce very weak violations. We present a simple method to generate large violations for feasible states using both photon counting and homodyne detections. The present scheme can also be used to obtain nonlocality from easy-to-prepare Gaussian states (e.g., two-mode squeezed state).

The transmission of quantum information between different parts of a quantum computer is of fundamental importance. Spin chains have been proposed as quantum channels for transferring information. Different configurations for the spin couplings were proposed in order to optimize the transfer. As imperfections in the creation of these specific spin-coupling distributions can never be completely avoided, it is important to find out which systems are optimally suited for information transfer by assessing their robustness against imperfections or disturbances. We analyze different spin coupling distributions of spin chain channels designed for perfect quantum state transfer. In particular, we study the transfer of an initial state from one end of the chain to the other end. We quantify the robustness of different coupling distributions against perturbations and we relate it to the properties of the energy eigenstates and eigenvalues. We find that the localization properties of the systems play an important role for robust quantum state transfer.

We investigate the phenomenon of sudden transition between classical and quantum decoherence in the study of quantum discord for a dissipative cavity QED system, which consists of two noninteracting two-level atoms, each trapped in a dissipative cavity. It is found that the quantum discord between the two atoms, which are prepared initially in the X-type quantum states, is not destroyed by the dissipation of the cavities for a finite time interval, and the stationary quantum discord can arise in the interaction of atoms with cavities as the time approaches infinity. The transition time is sensitive to the initial state parameter of the two atoms and the mean photon number of the coherent field. Interestingly, the quantum discord between the two atoms is completely unaffected by the dissipation of the cavities if we choose the suitable value of the ratio, which depends on the decay rate of the two cavities and the atom-field coupling constant.

We propose a quantum solution to the classical private information retrieval (PIR) problem, which allows one to query a database in a private manner. The protocol offers privacy thresholds and allows the user to obtain information from a database in a way that offers the potential adversary, in this model the database owner, no possibility of deterministically establishing the query contents. This protocol may also be viewed as a solution to the symmetrically private information retrieval problem in that it can offer database security (inability for a querying user to steal its contents). Compared to classical solutions, the protocol offers substantial improvement in terms of communication complexity. In comparison with the recent quantum private queries [Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 230502 (2008)] protocol, it is more efficient in terms of communication complexity and the number of rounds, while offering a clear privacy parameter. We discuss the security of the protocol and analyze its strengths and conclude that using this technique makes it challenging to obtain the unconditional (in the information-theoretic sense) privacy degree; nevertheless, in addition to being simple, the protocol still offers a privacy level. The oracle used in the protocol is inspired both by the classical computational PIR solutions as well as the Deutsch-Jozsa oracle.

We study the dynamics of nearest-neighbor entanglement for a one-dimensional spin chain with a nearest-neighbor time-dependent Heisenberg coupling $J\left(t\right)$ between the spins in the presence of a time-dependent external magnetic field $h\left(t\right)$ at zero and finite temperatures. We consider different forms of time dependence for the coupling and magnetic field: exponential, hyperbolic, and periodic. Solving the system numerically, we examined the system-size effect on the entanglement asymptotic value. It was found that, for a small system size, the entanglement starts to fluctuate within a short period of time after applying the time-dependent coupling. The period of time increases as the system size increases and disappears completely as the size goes to infinity. Testing the effect of the transition constant for an exponential or hyperbolic coupling showed a direct impact on the asymptotic value of the entanglement; the larger the constant is, the lower the asymptotic value and the more rapid decay of entanglement are, which confirms the nonergodic character of the system. We also found that, when $J\left(t\right)$ is periodic, the entanglement shows a periodic behavior with the same period, which disappears upon applying periodic magnetic field with the same frequency. Solving the case $J\left(t\right)=\lambda h\left(t\right)$, for constant $\lambda$, exactly, we showed that the time evolution and asymptotic value of entanglement are dictated solely by the parameter $\lambda =J/h$ rather than the individual values of $J$ and $h$, not only when they are time independent and at zero temperature, but also when they are time dependent but proportional at zero and finite temperatures for all degrees of anisotropy.

We construct a qubit algebra from field creation and annihilation operators acting on a global vacuum state. Particles to be used as qubits are created from the vacuum by a near-deterministic single-particle source. Our formulation makes the space-time dependence of the qubits explicit, preparing the way for quantum computation within a field framework. The method can be generalized to deal with interacting qubits whose wave packets are not perfectly matched to each other. We give an example of how to calculate the Heisenberg evolution of a simple two-qubit circuit, taking expectation values in the field vacuum state.

Generating entanglement by simply cooling a system into a stationary state which is highly entangled has many advantages. Schemes based on this idea are robust against parameter fluctuations, tolerate relatively large spontaneous decay rates, and achieve high fidelities independent of their initial state. A possible implementation of this idea in atom-cavity systems has recently been proposed by Kastoryano et al., [Kastoryano et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 090502 (2011).]. Here we propose an improved entanglement cooling scheme for two atoms inside an optical cavity which achieves higher fidelities for comparable single-atom cooperativity parameters $C$. For example, we predict fidelities above $90\%$ even for $C$ as low as 20 without having to detect photons.

Starting from a multichannel quantum-defect theory, we derive analytic descriptions of a magnetic Feshbach resonance in an arbitrary partial wave $l$ and the atomic interactions around it. An analytic formula, applicable to both broad and narrow resonances of arbitrary $l$, is presented for ultracold atomic scattering around a Feshbach resonance. Other related issues addressed include (a) the parametrization of a magnetic Feshbach resonance of arbitrary $l$, (b) rigorous definitions of “broad” and “narrow” resonances of arbitrary $l$ and their different scattering characteristics, and (c) the tuning of the effective range and the generalized effective range by a magnetic field.

Motivated by a realization of imbalanced Feshbach-resonant atomic Fermi gases, we formulate a low-energy theory of the Fulde-Ferrell and the Larkin-Ovchinnikov (LO) states and use it to analyze fluctuations, stability, and phase transitions in these enigmatic finite momentum-paired superfluids. Focusing on the unidirectional LO pair-density-wave state, which spontaneously breaks the continuous rotational and translational symmetries, we show that it is characterized by two Goldstone modes, corresponding to a superfluid phase and a smectic phonon. Because of the liquid-crystalline “softness” of the latter, at finite temperature the three-dimensional state is characterized by a vanishing LO order parameter, quasi-Bragg peaks in the structure and momentum distribution functions, and a “charge”-4, paired-Cooper-pairs, off-diagonal long-range order, with a superfluid-stiffness anisotropy that diverges near a transition into a nonsuperfluid state. In addition to conventional integer vortices and dislocations, the LO superfluid smectic exhibits composite half-integer vortex-dislocation defects. A proliferation of defects leads to a rich variety of descendant states, such as the charge-4 superfluid and Fermi-liquid nematics and topologically ordered nonsuperfluid states, that generically intervene between the LO state and the conventional superfluid and the polarized Fermi liquid at low and high imbalance, respectively. The fermionic sector of the LO gapless superconductor is also quite unique, exhibiting a Fermi surface of Bogoliubov quasiparticles associated with the Andreev band of states, localized on the array of the LO domain walls.

In this paper, we develop a direct simulation Monte Carlo method for simulating highly nonequilibrium dynamics of nondegenerate ultracold gases. We show that our method can simulate the high-energy collision of two thermal clouds in the regime observed in experiments [Thomas et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 173201 (2004)], which requires the inclusion of beyond $s$-wave scattering. We also consider the long-time dynamics of this system, demonstrating that this would be a practical experimental scenario for testing the Boltzmann equation and studying rethermalization.

The stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii equation is shown to be an excellent model for quasi-one-dimensional Bose gas experiments, accurately reproducing the in situ density profiles recently obtained in the experiments of Trebbia et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 250403 (2006)] and van Amerongen et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 090402 (2008)] and the density fluctuation data reported by Armijo et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 230402 (2010)]. To facilitate such agreement, we propose and implement a quasi-one-dimensional extension to the one-dimensional stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii equation for the low-energy, axial modes, while atoms in excited transverse modes are treated as independent ideal Bose gases.

Quantum ratchets exhibit asymptotic currents when driven by a time-periodic potential of zero mean if the proper spatiotemporal symmetries are broken. Recently, there has been debate on whether directed currents may arise for potentials which do not break these symmetries. We show here that in the presence of degeneracies in the quasienergy spectrum, long-lasting directed currents can be induced, even if the time-reversal symmetry is not broken. Our model can be realized with ultracold atoms in optical lattices in the tight-binding regime, and we show that the time scale of the average current can be controlled by extremely weak fields.

We calculate the ground-state properties of an unpolarized two-component Fermi gas with the aid of the diffusion quantum Monte Carlo (DMC) methods. Using an extrapolation to the zero effective range of the attractive two-particle interaction, we find $E/E_{\mathrm{free}}$ in the unitary limit to be 0.212(2), 0.407(2), 0.409(3), and 0.398(3) for 4, 14, 38, and 66 atoms, respectively. Our calculations indicate that the dependence of the total energy on the effective range of the interaction $R_{\mathrm{eff}}$ is sizable and the extrapolation to $R_{\mathrm{eff}}=0$ is therefore important for reaching the true unitary limit. To test the quality of nodal surfaces and to estimate the impact of the fixed-node approximation, we perform released-node DMC calculations for 4 and 14 atoms. Analysis of the released-node and the fixed-node results suggests that the main sources of the fixed-node errors are long-range correlations, which are difficult to sample in the released-node approaches due to the fast growth of the bosonic noise. Besides energies, we evaluate the two-body density matrix and the condensate fraction. We find that the condensate fraction for the 66-atom system converges to 0.56(1) after the extrapolation to the zero interaction range.

We study the radiative decay and Purcell effect for a finite-size dipole emitter placed in a homogeneous uniaxial medium. We demonstrate that the radiative rate is strongly enhanced when the signs of the medium longitudinal and transverse dielectric constants are opposite, and that the isofrequency contour corresponds to a hyperbolic medium. We reveal that the Purcell enhancement factor remains finite even in the absence of losses and that it depends on the emitter size.